Invention of Hysteria. Charcot and the Photographic Iconography of the Salpêtrière
Creator
Date
2003
Identifier
Medical WZ 100 CK76 2003
Type
Publisher
Cambridge, Massachusetts: The MIT Press
Abstract
When in Paris in August 1880, Truby King attended (along with author Axel Munthe) one of Professor Jean-Martin Charcot’s famed ‘hysteria’ demonstrations at the Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital. Charcot was regarded as an authority on hysteria and hypnosis. To King the scene was unforgettable: a naked female patient was brought out with marks drawn all over her body. Charcot proceeded to stab her with a small dagger. Throughout the ordeal she remained motionless. Charcot photographed his patients (as shown here). Truby King also became a skilled photographer, using the relatively new medium as a tool to enhance patient records, especially while working at Seacliff Lunatic Asylum.
Files
Citation
Georges Didi-Huberman, “Invention of Hysteria. Charcot and the Photographic Iconography of the Salpêtrière,” ourheritage.ac.nz | OUR Heritage, accessed October 10, 2024, https://ourheritage.ac.nz/items/show/9446.